In this March 24, 2010 file photo, Edward Roski, right, a board member at the Bowers Museum, looks at a 2,800-year-old infant mummy, Baby Bluebonnet, at the "Secrets of the Silk Road: Mystery Mummies from China," exhibit at the museum in Santa Ana, Calif. A museum just days away from opening a long-awaited exhibit of mummies and other historical artifacts from China is gutting the display at the request of Chinese officials, the museum announced Wednesday Feb. 2, 2011. The artifacts were part of "Secrets of the Silk Road," which is scheduled to open Saturday at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Philadelphia. The exhibit has already traveled to museums in California and Texas without issue. Penn museum spokeswoman Pam Kosty said she could not offer any more information beyond a statement saying Chinese officials had requested the items not be shown. She declined to identify the officials. AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File.

PHILADELPHIA (AP).- A diplomatic official says two mummies and other ancient artifacts from China were never approved for display at the Philadelphia museum now embroiled in a dispute over the items.

A Chinese embassy spokesman in Washington says the "Secrets of the Silk Road" exhibit was approved only for museums in California and Texas.

Chinese officials are not allowing the artifacts to be displayed at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

Instead, the long-planned exhibit opened Saturday with fake mummies and life-size photos of the artifacts.

Spokesman Wang Baodong tells The Philadelphia Inquirer that the city "was not a planned stop." He says officials in Beijing are discussing the issue.